Supermarket chicken linked to deforestation - 7th December 2020

Chicken on sale in UK supermarkets and fast food chains has been linked to deforestation in Brazil. Soya beans from the Cerrado region are imported to feed many UK chickens. Soya farming in the Cerrado has led to at least 800 square kilometres of tree clearance.

The Cerrado is a huge, tropical savannah in the middle of Brazil. It covers over 2 million square kilometres, or 22 percent of the country.

The region is rich in plant and animal life. It has 11,620 types of plant, 1,200 fish species, and around 200 mammals such as jaguars, anteaters and tapirs. It is one of the world's most important carbon sinks and stores a lot of carbon each year.

However, more than 50% of the Cerrado landscape has been converted into farmland for soya. This is then exported to China, Europe and other markets.

Soya exports are important to the Brazilian government. Over the past 10 years, it has relaxed controls on deforestation, and sometimes encouraged it. The Cerrado, in particular, has suffered.

The UK consumes a billion chickens a year, the equivalent to 15 birds per person. Many are made fat on soya beans from the Cerrado.

UK consumers have little way of knowing the environmental impact of the chicken they buy. The labels don't provide enough information about the meat.